'Star Wars 9' theory reveals why Palpatine's army is an even bigger threat

Emperor Palpatine is already enough of a threat in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on his own, but recent leaks claim he could show up in Episode IX with an entire army of Sith Troopers in tow. Now, a convincing new theory references Star Wars canon to explain why the Emperor’s clone army is an even bigger threat than we thought, and it all has to do with Jango Fett.

Speculative spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker below.

We all remember Jango Fett, right? Best bounty hunter in the galaxy prior to the Clone Wars and basically a living genetic blueprint for creating new clones? Good. Now imagine a whole army made up of thousands of Jango Fetts invading the galaxy in The Rise of Skywalker. Indestructible is the word that comes to mind and Palpatine loves being one step ahead of everyone. Being backed by an immensely strong army certainly gives him the upper hand.

“A clone army made off the original Jango Fett blueprint(!!!) which was never destroyed and created arguably the best fighting force the galaxy has ever seen,” writes redditor u/The_BigDuke.

The reason why this theory makes a whole lot of sense is because Fett’s clones had already been created before in the prequels, so the technology is already there. The theory also touches on how the blueprints detailing his genetic makeup were never thrown away, and Palpatine famously had a plan in place just in case he was ever defeated by the Rebellion.

It makes sense that this contingency plan would involve building up a new clone army. That might also explain why the First Order doesn’t use clones. Maybe someone stole the Jango Fett blueprint.

In the novel Star Wars: Aftermath, written by Chuck Wendig, the Emperor Palpatine had a plan called “The Contingency” that included mapping the untouched parts of the galaxy so that if he died, he would still be able to rebuild the empire to its former glory from a safe distance. To do that, of course, he’d need an army. It absolutely sounds like something he would do and the “Contingency” strategy definitely gives the theory more validity.

In the most recent trailer for The Rise of Skywalker, which debuted at the D23 Expo in August, there were a hoard of new ships that didn’t belong to the First Order; they were actually Imperial Class Destroyers. The implication being that these are the ships carrying the cloned Sith Fleet.

With one potential Episode IX leak suggesting that Kylo will be the first one to cross paths with Palpatine, perhaps he’ll also discover the Sith Trooper army and attempt to fight Palps to control them. Whatever Palpatine’s plans are, he knows exactly what he’s doing, and things will likely get far worse before they get better for the galaxy.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters December 20, 2019.